The contest for the Democratic Party nomination for Congressional District 10 has become quite visible in recent weeks in Oconee County, as both of the active candidates have appeared before groups, each making the case that she is better able to flip the traditionally Republican district in November.
Lexi Doherty, who represented the party in the contest with incumbent Mike Collins two years ago, appeared before a group organized by residents of Presbyterian Village Athens at the Oconee County Library on Thursday afternoon. Doherty is from Athens-Clarke County.
Pamela Delancy, challenging Doherty, appeared before the Oconee County Democratic Party a week earlier. Delancy is from Henry County.
Doherty had appeared before the Democrats in November, and Delancy appeared before a group organized by the residents of Presbyterian Village Athens on March 5.
Both Doherty and Delancy also used the opportunity of Rep. Eric Gisler’s Third Town Hall Meeting at North High Shoals on March 21 to showcase their qualifications and their issue stands.
The attention being given to Oconee County reflects the importance of Oconee County and neighboring Clarke County in the current composition of House District 10.
When Republicans redrew House Districts 6 and 7 in 2021 to gain one more likely Republican District in the Atlanta suburbs, they made Clarke County whole in District 10. It had been split between District 9 and District 10 in the old maps.
In the 2024 Democratic Party Primary for the 10th Congressional District, 28.8 percent of the votes came from Clarke County, more than from any other of the 20 counties in the District. That number jumps to 32.6 percent, or just under a third of the District voters in the Democratic 10th District Primary, if Oconee County’s 3.8 percent of the vote is added.
In the 2024 November General Election, 12.8 percent of the total vote in the 10th Congressional District–Democrats, Republicans, and others--came from Clarke County, with an addition 6.7 percent coming from Oconee, for a total of 19.5 percent–or one in five–coming from Oconee and Clarke combined.
Henry County, which is only partially in the District and where Delancy lives, contributed 15.4 percent of the total vote in the District 10 race, and Walton County contributed 14.1 percent, the next largest county in terms of vote.
Atlanta Press Club Forum
Reflecting the new sense of competitiveness in the 10th Congressional District, the Atlanta Press Club has invited Democratic and Republican candidates to participate in its Loudermilk-Young Debate Series on April 26.
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| Doherty (Left) And Sandmann 4/9/2026 |
Republicans will meet from 9:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., and Democrats will meet from 10:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. The event, held in partnership with Georgia Public Broadcasting, will be “taped” and livestreamed.
According to the Press Club web site, a committee comprised of members of the Atlanta Press Club board and local political journalists “determines which debates would be most impactful for voters each election season” and selects those for inclusion in the debates.
The only other Congressional District candidates invited for the debates are the candidates in District 1, District 11, and, for Democratic candidates in District 13.
Incumbent Mike Collins defeated Doherty in 2024 with 63.1 percent of the vote.
Republicans hold nine of the state’s 14 Congressional seats, and the 63.1 percent Collins received in 2024 puts Collins just ahead of the 62.0 percent Earl L. “Buddy” Carter received against his Democratic opponent in District 1 and the 60.3 percent Rick W. Allen received against his Democratic opponent in District 12.
Both Collins and Carter are seeking the Republican Party nomination for the U.S. Senate, and Republican incumbent Barry Laudermilk is retiring in District 11.
Other Forums
Delancy and Doherty also are featured in a virtual candidate forum scheduled for 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. on Sunday by Indivisible Boldly Blue in Monroe.
They also have been invited to a Democratic Candidate Forum to be held from 2 to 6 p.m. on April 25 at the Oconee County Civic Center.
John Dority, a retired engineer from Oglethorpe County, also has qualified for the Democratic primary, but he has not been actively campaigning.
Houston Gaines, Jeffrey Baker, and Ryan Millsap have qualified as Republicans for House District 10.
The Oconee County Republican Party held a forum for candidates on March 21 at the Cotton Gin in Oconee County, but it did not allow video or audio recording of the session.
Clarke County isn't as important for the Republicans in the Party Primary as it is for the Democrats.
Doherty At Library
Doherty told the 31 people gathered at the Oconee County Library in Wire Park on Thursday (April 9) that she knew after her loss to Collins in 2024 that she wanted to run again and that she has been preparing in the last year for the campaign.
The event at the library was organized by Indivisible GA10 Oconee (formerly named Indivisible—Presbyterian Village Athens), which also had organized the March 5 meeting with Delancy held at the Athens-Clarke County Public Library Auditorium.
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| Doherty 4/9/2026 |
On her state qualification form for the May 19 Party Primary, Doherty lists her occupation as “candidate,” but she said at the meeting on Thursday that her training and background is in geology,
“Climate and in energy is really where I got started thinking about policy,” she said in response to a question from Lorilee Sandmann, who moderated the session.
“I've been making the arguments for renewable energy for both the climate benefits but also affordability, access,” she said. “There are so many reasons that shifting towards renewable energy benefits us.”
“The first thing we should do immediately, day one, is raise the minimum wage,” Doherty told Sandmann. “So the way I see this, that is something we could do tomorrow that would change people's lives.”
“We know the cost of housing is exploding, the cost of healthcare is out of control,” she said. “All of these things are issues that I think we should be working on.”
“But if you give people more money in their pocket to make decisions in their own lives, that takes pressure off immediately,” she added. “And so, my view is that the minimum wage should be a living wage.”
Sandmann opened up the meeting to questions from the audience after the 20-minute back and forth with Doherty.
Near the end of the hour-long session, Doherty was asked what set her apart in the primary.
“I'm the only one that's not retired in the primary on this side,” she said. “And I do love retired folks. You all are great. But I do think it's really important that the people that are legislating are going to feel the effects of that legislation.”
“And I'm the only one, at least, in this primary, that has come of age in this economy, that is trying to buy a home, trying to start a family,” said Doherty, who said she is 33-years old.
“I think I'm the only one that feels the effects as a young person of what's happening in this country,” she said.
Delancy Before Oconee Democrats
Delancy’s appearance before the Oconee County Democratic Party on April 2 was a follow up to Doherty’s appearance before the party in November, though Doherty did share the November program with Senate District 46 candidate William Gaulden and House District 120 candidate Suzanna Karatassos.
Delancy was the featured candidate at the April 2 meeting, held at the Oconee County Library in Wire Park and attended by 39 people.
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| Delancy 4/2/2026 |
Delancy said she was running for the Congressional seat because “I think it's time that the leadership represent we, the people, not a select few people.”
“Like right now, what we have in the administration are the have and the have-nots,” she continued. “There are more of us have-nots than the haves. And so I'm here to represent the majority of we, the people.”
“So this is who I am,” Delancy said. “Retired Army nurse colonel. I'm a cancer survivor. I served over 30 years in the military. My last six years I spent in the Pentagon writing policies for veterans and also service members.”
“We have service members right now in harm's way,” she said. “They're in Iran in a war that was started without going through the Constitution. So if we allow the Constitution to be continuously sidestepped and disregarded, then we have no guide for our country anymore.”
“We have someone dictating to us what we should do, what we should say, even trying to suppress us from voting, which is the last tool we have to have a voice,” she said.
“Healthcare is the number one priority for me,” Delancy said. ‘I'm also looking at education. I'm looking at public safety with immigration and the economy.”
Delancy said she thinks is it easy to reach out to Republicans.
“You need gas, food and running water,” she said. “I mean, are you getting a discount that I don't know about? Last time I checked, we all had the same issues. The issue isn't different. It doesn't matter what political affiliation you are, the issue is the same. We're all facing the same economic issues.”
“Let's talk about immigration real quick,” she said. “We know we need to secure our borders. But we need to do that in the most humane manner possible. Everyone is entitled to human rights, human dignity, basic respect.”
“We should not be going to schools and churches and pulling people out and dividing families that we can't put back together. Why are we doing this? Are we so barbaric?” she asked.
“Why in America is any child hungry?” Delancy asked. “Why are we taking food stamps and the food meal cards out of the schools that students need? That might be their only good meal for the day. Why are we removing that from them?”
“We need to make sure that we are putting these things back in place for our underserved populations,” she said.
Delancy’s initial comments ran about 20 minutes and she responded to questions for another 15 minutes.
Near the end, she said “I can't win the heart of a hardened person. I can only win the heart of people that want to change, that believe in uniting. That's the only people I can help.”
“I can only tell you what I have to offer and what I bring to the table,” she said, “ which is experience, which is life experience, which is trained experience, which is education. And if that's not good enough, well, there's two other people running.”
Delancy At Athens-Clarke County Library
In her March presentation at the Athens-Clarke County Library, Delancy said “I'm going to start with why this campaign is important, because this is a very, very important campaign.”
That session also had been organized by Gilbertson, Sandmann, and Dr. Bob Galen on behalf of the Indivisible GA 10 group from Presbyterian Village Athens. Gilbertson estimated that 45 people attended.
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| Delancy 3/5/2026 |
“So for the first time in over 30 years,” Delancy said, “District 10 has an opportunity to redefine its representation and political priorities that reflect the change in the demographics and diversity of the people of this community.”
“We have an opportunity to turn this District 10 blue,” she added.
“To sum up my campaign values, you can do it in three words: duty, honor, and country,” she said. “My whole adult life, I've been living by those three words. I don't have to pretend, I don't have to try to hurry up and make it seem like that's what it is.”
“That's what it is,” she said. “I've been doing it all of my life. I've been taking care of people all of my life. And I like to do that. It's not a burden. It is a blessing to be able to care for someone other than yourself. It is a blessing to be able to speak up for someone that can't speak for themselves.”
“I have spent my entire life answering the call to serve in the Army, in my home and the community,” Delancy said near the end of her 35-minute-long talk. “I'm asking you to help me with this call.”
“Instead of sending a politician to DC, I think you should send a care giver to DC to do what politicians never do for you. And that's take care of you.”
“They don't take care of you. They don't care. Once they get in there, they get their good check, they gone,” she said.
“I will not be that person,” she added.
Delancy took questions for another 25 minutes.
Video
The first video below is of the April 9 meeting of Doherty with the Indivisible GA10 Oconee organization at the Oconee County Library.
Phil Gilbertson, one of the program organizers, introduced the session before turning the program over to Sandman.
The second video is of the entire April 2 meeting of the Oconee County Democratic Party.
Delancy was the featured speaker, and she began her comments at 3:07 in the video after an introduction by Party Chair Harold Thompson.
The third video below is of the March 5 meeting of Delancey at the Athens-Clarke County Library. Sandmann introduced the speaker.
Gilbertson, using a camera and tripod I loaned him, recorded the video for me.
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